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Abdal

Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature

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Abdallah ben-al-Phadeli

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a name given to a peculiar class of Mohammedan devotees. They go bareheaded and with naked legs, half covered with the skin of some wild beast, having a leathern girdle about the waist, from which hangs a bag. Some of them have about the middle of their bodies a copper serpent, bestowed upon them by their doctors as a mark of learning. Their doctrines are totally subversive of good order in society, since they hold that all actions are indifferent, and that God is served in the haunts of the profligate as much as in the mosques. They carry in their hands a kind of club, which they use as a magic wand. They chiefly employ themselves in wandering about, selling relics, and obtaining charity.' They are also called Santons and Calenders.